Exclusive: Dominic Cooper Explains World of Warcraft Movie Story

The World of Warcraft co-star describes how Duncan Jones's film will relate to real-world issues.

BBC America presented a panel on their four part miniseries Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond to the Television Critics Association this weekend. Afterwards, I spoke to Dominic Cooper, who plays Fleming, at a tea time reception with BBC talent. When no one else was around, I steered the conversation towards the Warcraft movie in which Cooper was cast in December.

World of Warcraft being an open world game, I asked Cooper about the movie’s story and he gave us some good indications where the story is going, without specific spoilers.

“There’s a very human story at the heart of it because there’s a few of us that are humans in it that are up against tribes and problematic issues that exist in the world that we exist in,” Cooper said. “It’s happening all over the world at the moment and you see it happening all over. People have savaged their own lands and their own environment and they’re having to find a new environment in which to move into through the hostility of others. If there’s something as poignant as that that we can relate to and that we see unfolding in everyday life, then it will make it a worthwhile story.”

Cooper also related Warcraft to the video game movie he recently wrapped, Need for Speed. “If it’s just a video game for no reason, it’s the same as Need for Speed. That should not just be, and we’ve seen that happen, where they just think the idea of a car racing game is enough. It’s not enough. That was made by people who are extraordinary at making action sequences with cars and I was completely blown away by what they achieved.”

Movies based on video games have not had a good track record, though director Duncan Jones is promising for Warcraft. Cooper was as aware as we all are of failed attempts to adapt games, so he held Warcraft to high standards.

“The script. I saw it and I don’t know it as a video game, so you can read what you like about the video game. You can read all those amazing characters on the intricate detail of what the characters are worth and what they can achieve and what they can do, but in this, the story is great. It’s when they make the video games and they think that they can just be sold on the idea and the fact that they are successful video games. What they forget is actually you have an ability to interact with a video game and that’s why they’re so successful. So if you’re going to make a film, the pleasure in a film is to be immersed in the world in a brilliantly, even more beautiful than a video game so there’s got to be something more special about it and that ultimately comes down to storyline and content.”

We’ll have the full interview with Dominic Cooper in our TV channel when Fleming airs January 29.